Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own characters.

Author's Note: Hi guys! I hope you enjoy the chapter. We'll get to meet more of our favourite Moroi and dhampirs in this chapter and you will hopefully like it. Anyway, on with the chapter and please remember to review!

Chapter 6: The Royal Court

Nicolaclair's POV

When Lissa had said that we were leaving tomorrow, I'd thought she meant to Palm Springs. But I was wrong. She actually meant that we would be going to the Royal Court and then travelling to Palm Springs in a few days.

I decided not to say anything to my human family about my departure, because I knew that I would never be able to explain it to them properly.

I packed my stuff after the phone call, then i went to bed, knowing that I'd have to get up extra early if I wanted to avoid everyone's notice. I knew that Liam would probably wake up when the guardians did, but he'd probably just go straight back to sleep again.

As I lay in bed, trying to sleep, the night's events kept replaying in my mind. The strigoi attack. Billy pinned to the ground. Me temporarily blinding the Strigoi with water and then, of course, the kiss. That kiss which had been so gentle but so powerful at the same time. It had been my very first kiss, and I knew for certain that I would never forget it.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! I groaned in pain. My alarm was unbearably loud and I was very tempted to just curl up under the covers and go back to sleep. Then, someone knocked on the door, forcing me to get up.

I turned off the alarm and stumbled across the room to answer the door. When I opened it, I found Billy out there, already fully dressed.

"I thought I'd come and make sure that you were up." He told me quietly.

"Is everyone else up yet?" I asked sleepily.

"Yeah, and Liam didn't even wake up when we did."

"That's good," I said through a huge yawn. "I'd better get ready now. I'll meet you guys downstairs in about 20 minutes."

"All right," Billy said. "See you then."

I nodded and went to get ready for a long day of travelling.

When I got downstairs, dragging my heavy suitcase behind me, (I'd packed a lot more than I'd actually probably need), I found that everyone was indeed awake and waiting for me.

"OK," Eddie said. "Let's get the luggage in the car and get out of here."

It all went pretty smoothly and a private plane had been sent to Glasgow Airport to pick us up. It was a very long flight but I wasn't bored. I was sitting next to Billy, with Neil and Eddie sitting right across the aisle from us.

"So," I said quietly to Billy. "About that kiss last night. I just wanted to say that it was amazing. You're amazing. And I was wondering if well, are we a couple now?"

"Yes," Billy said. "I'd love to be a couple as long as you're OK with it."

"Of course I'm OK with it!" I squealed. "I'm great with it! I've been waiting for this for a whole ... I don't know, ages!"

Beside me, Billy smiled and took my hand. "Me too," He said and I could tell that he meant it.

"You guys are a couple now?" Eddie asked us. I nodded and smiled at him, feeling a bit relieved that Neil hadn't told Eddie about seeing us kissing last night.

When we finally arrived at Court, a group of unfamiliar guardians escorted us to the palace to meet with Lissa and some others. I was a bit confused at first, since it was the middle of the night by now, but then I remembered that the Court would be on a nocturnal schedule.

When we got to the palace, we were shown into a room with a large TV screen and comfy couches and chairs grouped around it. A group of people were gathered there, and I was suddenly nervous that I wouldn't meet Lissa's royal standards.

"You must be Nicolaclair," Said a very pretty blonde Moroi girl who was about 18 years old with the same green eyes that I had as she came to shake hands with me. "I'm Lissa, we spoke on the phone."

"Oh, right," I said uncomfortably, unsure if I should kneel or something, "It's um very nice to meet you."

"You too." Lissa responded as she smiled kindly at me. Then she turned to the guardians and greeted them. It was clear to me that she and Eddie already knew each other but the others were meeting her for the first time, too.

Then I got to meet the rest of the gathered people. There was a dark haired Dhampir girl named Rose, a very tall Russian Dhampir guy with a dark ponytail called Dimitri, a sly-looking Moroi man named Abe, a brown-haired Moroi guy in his early twenties called Adrian, a Moroi guy with black hair and piercing ice blue eyes called Christian and a Moroi girl about 15 years old with curly light brown hair and eyes the same as mine and Lissa's called Jill. That last one I studied for a long time before I turned questioningly to Lissa.

"Didn't you say that Jill got attacked?" I asked. "She looks completely fine to me."

"I'll explain that later but for now, I have to tell you about the arrangements for Palm Springs." Lissa said. I nodded and she continued. "Well, the thing is, you can't take all three of your guardians, plus guardians for Jill, to Palm Springs."

"Why not?" I asked. I liked my new guardians and I was sad that I couldn't take them with me, especially Billy.

"Because it's not really practical," Lissa explained. "So I was thinking about making Eddie Jill's guardian and letting you pick whichever guardian you want to go with you."

I thought for a moment. This was better than I had expected but something was bugging me. "What about the guardian I don't pick?" I asked.

Lissa smiled. "They'll still be your guardian, they just won't be with you for a while. I'll probably send them on later, if you need more protection, that is."

"All right," I said. "Eddie can go with Jill and Billy, would you mind coming with me?"

"No, I'd love to come with you." He said, giving me a quick hug. Then I turned to Lissa. "Can I be excused for a minute? I'd like to speak to Neil in private."

"Of course," Lissa said and I gestured to Neil to follow me out of the room. Once outside, I turned to face him.

"Neil, I hope you don't think that I'm disrespecting you. I know that you're a great guardian, but Billy is my boyfriend and I really don't want to be away from him for that long. I hope you understand."

"That's OK," Neil said with a very slight smile. "I completely understand and besides, it'll be good for Billy to get some real world experience."

I gave Neil a quick hug. "Thanks for understanding. I hope they send you along because I think we could be good friends."

Neil smiled at me. "Yes," He agreed. "Me too."

When I went back into the room, the others were talking about getting lunch. I was hungry so I joined them and we all had our meal in the room we were in, curtesy of Lissa's servants.

While we were eating, Billy leaned towards me. "I'm glad I get to go with you," He whispered to me. "I thought you would've picked Neil. You know, because he's more experienced and stuff."

"Like I'd leave you behind," I laughed. "And besides, it's not really likely that we'll get that many Strigoi in Palm Springs."

"True," Billy said. "But you can never be too careful."

"Nicolaclair?" Lissa asked me later as I was preparing to go to my room, which was actually still inside the palace.

"Yeah?" I answered Lissa.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," I said as I followed Lissa outside.

"Well," Lissa said quietly. "I just wanted to tell you about Jill, since you were asking earlier."

"Oh, ok," I said. "What happened to her?"

She told me. I couldn't speak, I could only stare at her in astonishment.

"You mean... she was resurrected?"

"Sort of," Lissa answered. "It's a power that only a few Moroi have. I have it, Adrian has it and so do a few others, it's called spirit."

"Right," I said, "I think I get it."

"Good," She said with a smile. "I know you've had a lot to deal with lately. I hope you understand that I really am pleased to meet you. I hope we'll get closer, once we get to know each other, I mean."

"Me too," I said and I was surprised to realize how much I meant it.

Over the next week, I got to know everyone a lot better. They were all really nice, especially Jill, and I found myself becoming fast friends with everyone.

Meanwhile, my relationship with Billy was as good as I'd ever imagined it could be. He was really sweet and romantic and I found myself loving him more and more as each day went by.

On the day that we were flying to Palm Springs, I began to feel very nervous. How would I, one of the most unpopular girls in my old school, fit in at a fancy private school like Amberwood? I didn't know but I supposed that I'd just have to be strong to make it.

Billy, always so much more confident than I was, tried to reassure me. "You'll be fine," He kept saying. "I'm sure you'll make lots of friends. And you've got me to protect you. I'll be with you as much as I can, you'll be completely fine."

His reassurance was comforting but I still worried.

You're being stupid, I told myself as I got on to the plane that would take me to my new life, nothing bad will happen to you. I hoped, with everything I had, that that was true.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed that guys. And please remember to review! hunterofartemis126